We write today to invite you to become an original cosponsor of the Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic (SAFE) Lending Act. This legislation will crack down on the worst practices of the small-dollar lending industry, such as payday loan products, and
give states more power to enforce their own laws to protect consumers from these predatory lenders.

Too often, families turn to payday lenders hoping to make ends meet, only to be hit with exorbitant interest rates that make the loan nearly impossible to pay back and trapping these borrowers into an endless cycle of debt. While many states have established
protections for borrowers such as licensing requirements and limits to the amount of fees and interest that can be charged on these loans, many of these shadow lenders hide behind anonymously registered websites and “lead generators” and subvert state level
lending laws.

The SAFE Lending Act will close loopholes and better empower localities to combat these abusive business practices by:

Ensuring that consumers have better control over their own bank accounts, including providing consumers the ability to limit lenders from making automatic withdrawals from these accounts;

Requiring all lenders to abide by the small-dollar lending rules of a state in which they offer to extend small-dollar credit in that state;

Banning lead generators and anonymous payday lending; and

Increasing enforcement authority to help stop offshore and other rogue small-dollar lenders who offer products in violation of state laws.